The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-08-06
FATAL ACCIDENT
To II Private in the Household
&uards-Anothe- Injured,


Yesterday morning while His Majesty
was leaving by the steamer W. q. Hall for
Lahaina, terrible accident occurred at the
Kakaako Battery in the course OF firing
the salutes. The charge in one OF the guns
exploded prematurely. inficting Injuries
upon private rs med kanikana from
the effects OF which ne died at o'clock the
same evening, and blowing OF the thumb
and forefnger of Sergeant Kinimaka, The
circumstances in detail will he gathered
from
THE COMMANDING OFFICERS ACCOUNT.
The officer ia charge OF the battery was
Adjutant Robert Parker, who states that
at 2 80 a. m. he proceeded To the saluting
battery with detachment Of the House
hold Guard consisting of second Lieu
tenant Nathaniel five scrgeauts and ten
prjvatcS- There are seven guns At the bat
terry. only five OF which are used there
beng insufficient space for theswhole num-
Der. The sergcauts and privates were
placed. three in charge of each gun. while
the Adjutant instructed them as to the
duties each was required TO perform. The
party commenced firing the salute al 10 10
a. m. and eight guns were fired without
any mishap. The period allowed to
elapse between each discharge is
fifteen seconds. the five guns being fired
in rotation. and the Adjutant was
on the point of giving the word to fire the
ninth gun, when the charge in gun num-
Der ;, the turn for which had already come
round twice, exploded third time acct
i. all, 10, ba
of ramming home the charge was blown
some twelve feet in front and lay motion
less upon the ground frightfulIy mangIed,
the Sergeant having the thumb and fingers
of his right hand blown off by the discharge
from the touch hole. \ telephone mes
sage was at once despatched for medical
aid, and the remaining number of guns to
complete the salute were fired, occupying
nearly three minutes, the gun in connec-
ton with which the accident happened
being omitted each time its turn came
round. When this was completed the in
jured man, a private named Kamikana,
was removed to the building attached to
the battery.
When the attendant excitement had sub
sided it was ascertained that the men in
charge of the gun were Sergeant Kinimaka,
whose duty it was to keep his thumb upon
the touch hole to prevent the ingress of air
while the charge was inserted, and to fire
the gun upon the order being given; pri-
vate KOmoku, whose orders were to place
the charge in the muzzle; and Kamikana,
the private already named, his duty being
to ram home the charges and to sponge
out the gun after each one was fired. This |
last duty is most important one and the !
Adjutant is inclined TO think that the &C |
Cident was due to its not having been prop |
erly carried out. Another thing which |
may have contributed to it is the inefec- |
tual stoppage of the touch hole by the |
Sergeant. 1t would thus appear from the |
Adjutant's statement that the sad occur
renee was due to careIessness on the part
of one or both of these men.
About quarter OF an hour after the
accident DR.. McKibbin arrived, closely
followed by DR.. Trousseau, and upon ex-
aiming the wounded man ordered his
removal to the Queens Hospital whittier
he was conveyed upon a stretcher. His
two arms were completely shattered from
the elbow downwards; his face was fright
fully burned, one eye being blown out,
other parts of his body being more or less
Sergeant Kinimaka was also
taken to the hospital for treatment.
He has been in the force about eleven or
,welve years. Kamikana has seen five
years service, and Adjutant Parker three
years.
The last named, being the officer in
charge, was examined by a Court OF In
Jury later in the day. The officers who
the Court were Colonel Hon. c.
P. Iaukea, Major A. B. Hayley, Major
Hon. Samuel Parker and Major J. D. Holt
Adjutant Parker states that he is the
,ficer ordinarily in charge of the saluting
battery, and during his experience no
imilar accident has ever occurred. The
runs used, and which it is customary to
lse for this purpose here, are OF some
What Anticipated type-in fact, what are
known as the old muzzle-load-
RS Some breech-loaders of more modern
construction may be seen at the barracks,
md on some occasions these are wheeled
nto position and used for saluting, but
his is exceptional. In the case of these
after the danger involved by the gunners
) reduced to a minimum, whereas the
,thers require greater vigilance in order
o guard against accidents.
Lieutenant Nathaniel, second in COM
nand, was subsequently interviewed, and
lis statement comedies in all essential
PARTICULARS with the foregoing. He says
he sight was indescribably painful, as the
Unfortunate deceased was fully conscious
fter the explosion of the charge, and
poke to him, complaining of feeling cold.
An inquest Will probably be held this
vening.